The Playboy Enterprises Inc. special board committee tapped to evaluate Hugh Hefner’s offer to take the company private said Tuesday it retained Raine Securities LLC and Kaye Scholer LLP as its financial and legal advisors, respectively. Get the full story »
Playboy
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Former Indonesian Playboy editor faces jail time
Prosecutors were searching Thursday for the former editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia after the highest court sentenced him to two years in prison for publishing pictures of scantily clothed women.
Erwin Arnada was acquitted by the South Jakarta District Court in April 2007, with judges arguing the photos could not be categorized as pornography under the country’s criminal code. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which issued a guilty verdict in 2009 but only informed the prosecutors on Wednesday. It was not clear why. Get the full story »
Playboy posts wider-than-expected loss
Playboy Enterprises Inc. reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as revenue at its print and digital segment continued to decline.
For the second quarter, net loss narrowed to $5.4 million, or 16 cents per share, from $8.7 million, or 26 cents per share, a year ago.
The adult entertainment company, which is being wooed by both founder Hugh Hefner and rival Penthouse magazine-owner FriendFinder Networks, saw revenue fall 10 percent to $56 million. Get the full story »
Playboy forms committee to weigh Hefner bid
Playboy Enterprises Inc. said Tuesday its board of directors has formed a special committee to consider founder Hugh Hefner’s proposal to buy out the rest of the company.
The committee will consist of attorney Sol Rosenthal, who will serve as its chairman, and Playboy director Shing Tao. Rosenthal is a counsel at international law firm Arnold & Porter, while Tao is chairman and chief investment officer of Pacific Star Partners, a private investment group. Get the full story »
Playboy launches ’safe-for-work’ site
Looking to expand viewership among those who might court a lawsuit if they fired up the regular Playboy.com site at work, Playboy Enterprises Inc. today announced something called TheSmokingJacket.com, which the company bills as a “new safe-for-work men’s entertainment destination that provides guys with smart and sexy distractions throughout the day.”
Safe for work means no nudity, but plenty of Playboy-style hormonal prurience. One of the lead stories on the site: “How to Get Laid at Work.” Another: “7 Signs That You’ve given Up on Getting Laid.” Playboy founder Hugh Hefner greets viewers to the site in a weird little 21-second video of him sitting on a couch in, yes, his trademark smoking jacket.
“Next to the mansion it’s the best hang out on the planet,” Hefner says of the new site. Get the full story »
Penthouse parent outbids Hefner for Playboy
Hugh Hefner at his home in California in May. (L.A. Times)
FriendFinder Networks Inc., the owner of the Penthouse adult entertainment franchise, announced today it has made a proposal to acquire rival Playboy Enterprises Inc. that the Florida company valued at $210 million.
The move counters a bid made earlier this week by Hugh Hefner to take the company he founded in 1953 private in a deal that would value Playboy at $185 million, or $5.50 a share. Get the full story »
Friend Finder hires adviser for Playboy bid
Friend Finder Networks Inc., the owner of Penthouse magazine, said this morning it has hired Imperial Capital LLC as financial advisor in its effort to buy Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
FriendFinder is a rival suitor in the effort to take over Playboy. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner earlier this week offered Playboy’s board $5.50 a share to buy the remaining stake of Playboy he does not own in a private takeover of the iconic company. Get the full story »
Shareholders sue Playboy over bid to go private
From Bloomberg News | Shareholders on Tuesday sued Playboy Enterprises and founder Hugh Hefner, charging that Hefner’s bid to take the company private denies them the best price for their shares.
Hugh Hefner, Penthouse pursue Playboy
Hugh Hefner with a dozen Playboy Bunnies at the original Chicago Playboy Club in 1960. (Playboy)
Shares in Playboy Enterprises Inc. surged nearly 35 percent this morning after its board of directors said it received a proposal from Hugh Hefner to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the struggling media company for $5.50 per share in cash.
Hefner, 84, currently owns 69.5 percent of Playboy’s Class A common stock and 27.7 percent of its Class B common stock, and has teamed with a Michigan private equity firm called Rizvi Traverse Management LLC to fund the bid for the shares he doesn’t own.
The Hefner bid values Playboy at $185 million but could spark an auction for the company. Marc Bell, chief executive of FriendFinder Networks Inc., which owns the rival Penthouse adult franchise, said he is readying a competing bid for Playboy. Get the full story »
Playboy kills Portuguese edition over Jesus photos
From Gawker | Playboy Enterprises said it is shutting down Playboy Portugal after a cover and pictorial, offered as a tribute to Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago and his novel “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ,” depicted Jesus Christ with naked women.
“We did not see or approve the cover and pictorial in the July issue of Playboy Portugal. It is a shocking breach of our standards, and we would not have allowed it to be published if we had seen it in advance,” said Theresa Hennessy, Playboy Enterprises’ vice president of public relations.
Playboy cuts corporate controller post
Playboy Enterprises Inc. said its recently announced round of layoffs include the elimination of the job held by Michael S. Dannhauser, who had served as senior vice president and corporate controller.
Playboy cuts jobs to save $3M a year
Playboy CEO Scott Flanders in his Chicago office. (Tribune file photo)
Playboy Enterprises said it is cutting staff in an effort to save more than $3 million annually as it transitions from a media company into one that primarily licenses the Playboy brand.
The company declined to say Tuesday how many employees are affected by the move.
At the end of March, Playboy employed 573 people in its Los Angeles and Chicago offices, down from 651 a year ago. Get the full story »
Playboy sues Drake over song sample
From Billboard.biz | Playboy Enterprises is suing rapper Drake, alleging that the beginning of his song “Best I Ever Had” was taken from “Fallin’ In Love,” by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Dennison/Reynolds, which it owns.
Iconix backs out on Playboy licensing deal
Iconix Brand Group Inc is no longer looking at a potential licensing deal with Playboy Enterprises Incand does not expect to revisit any deal in the near future, Iconix said. Get the full story »
Playboy CEO Flanders gets $3.25M in 2009
Tribune staff report | Playboy Enterprises Chief Executive Scott Flanders earned $3.25 million in his first year on job, according to the Chicago-based media company’s proxy materials filed today.
Flanders, who was appointed in June 2009, earned a salary of $430,769 and a bonus of $400,000. He was awarded $406,500 in Playboy stock and more than $2 million in stock options. He was also compensated $732 for protection services, the company said.
